CHAPTER SIX

The next day Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were at the venue were at the venue where the fashion show was to be held. They had to do a rehearsal before the show later that night. Mona, being her usual self, was sitting on the side of the catwalk bossing everyone around. Spencer sat beside her looking like she wanted to kill the smaller girl. Aria couldn't help but chuckle at Spencer getting a small dose of her own medicine. Usually she was the one bossing people around, but because she was not around for most of the student committee lately she was not able to be voted for the committee chair and basically had to do whatever Mona wanted her to do. Spencer said something to Mona before walking away, which made her laugh and Spencer glared at her.

"Do any of you guys have an extra ticket for tonight?" Hanna asked Aria and Emily.

"Did you change your mind about Caleb?" Aria asked. Aria had just learned about Hanna's 'friend' Caleb when they were folding the programs that were no longer being used a couple a nights ago.

"It's for my dad," she said.

"He's still in town?" Emily asked.

"Yep. And he's in no rush to get back to Isabel," Hanna said in a sour tone.

"What does that even mean?" Aria asked, "There is no way your mom and dad are getting back together."

"Aria Montgomery!" Mona shouted, "Less talking, more walking," she said. Aria walked over to the catwalk and started walking. Mona stopped her less than halfway down, "Um, are your legs always that short?" she asked.

"Um, yes," Aria said, "And I believe yours's are too. We're the same height, Mona," Aria reminded her. Mona had nothing to say after that and let Aria continue walking.

"Mona made fun of my height," Aria told her friends later that afternoon while they sat at the Apple Rose Grille for dinner before the fashion show, "She said I have short legs."

"But she is shorter than you are," Spencer said.

"I just told her we were the same height and walked off," Aria said.

"Mona is five feet of insidious snark with a side ponytail and I just—I just want to grab it, and I want to yank it really, really hard," Spencer said.

"Spencer, she did step up when you dealt with some pretty big things that were way out of your control," Toby, who had gone to lunch with the girls said. He had gotten roped into working the fashion show behind the scenes with setting up and whatnot. He deserved a nice lunch, "But, look, maybe we should enjoy the fact that those pretty big things are over, and we can take a breath," he said.

"Yeah, you're right," she said.


Later that night the girls were backstage getting ready for the show. They each had a rack of clothes with their names on it and a station for them to get ready at.

"Did you figure out what's going on with your dad yet?" Aria asked Hanna as she put lipstick on. Emily was sitting between the two.

"It's not even worth the recap," Hanna told her, "Where is your dress?" Hanna asked Emily."

Emily saw Samara in the reflection of her mirror and smiled, "Being delivered as we speak," she told Hanna. Emily talked with Samara while Hanna and Aria watched them.

"Did they seem a little touchy feely to you?" Emily asked.

"A little," Aria said

"Wait, how come I have no date and you have a date who brought a date?" Hanna asked.

"You have a date," Aria said, "You just didn't ask him to come," Aria said.

"And how come you don't have a date?" Hanna asked Aria.

"My mom is my date," Aria said, "I don't have anyone else who would have been my date. I've been home less than a week, Hanna."

"I don't like how you have an answer for everything," Hanna said. Aria only shrugged.

Aria was still doing her makeup done when Spencer walked backstage.

"Aria, do you have the slideshow disc?" Spencer asked.

"Oh, yeah," Aria reached into her bag to get it, "I think it should be okay. I checked it before we came this morning. I don't think it's too awful," she said.

"I'm sure it's fine," Spencer said, "I just have to give it to Noel, so he can set it up later. I'm going to kill Mona later."

"Please don't," Hanna said, "You've spent so much time already trying to stay out of jail. We don't need you to give the cops a real reason to put you in jail," Emily and Aria agreed.

"Fine," Spencer said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to get ready. We'll be starting soon."

A few minutes later Mrs. DiLaurentis and Jason walked backstage. He looked kind of angry. Aria didn't know if he was angry at her or if he just didn't want to be there or what was going on, but the look on his face was not a happy one. Aria wanted to say something, but he had to join his mother at the runway as they introduced her.


The whole fashion show went perfectly. They had no issues with wardrobe changes or who was supposed to be walking with who. They were all happy about that because now it was time for the four girls to change into the dressed Mrs. DiLaurentis picked out for them and do the tribute walk for Alison. It would be ironic if they messed that part up.

Aria had only seen the dress she was given the day before. It was luck on her part that her mother was friends with someone who was able to alter on very short notice or she would not have been able to fit into it. She liked the dress. It wasn't something she would have chosen, but it was pretty, and she would wear it for her deceased friend.

A voice came over the PA system and started speaking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Rosewood High Student Committee would like to take a moment to pay tribute to one of their own, Alison DiLaurentis."

Soft music started, and Hanna and Aria walked out. They started slowly walking hand in hand down the runway as the slideshow Aria put together started playing behind them. A few seconds after Aria and Hanna started down the runway Spencer and Emily started walking. The four girls just stood facing forward at the end of the runway while the slideshow played. Aria was only feet away from Jason. She wanted to look down at him but couldn't make herself do it. And Mona would kill her if she didn't do what they had rehearsed.

Suddenly loud rock music started playing and the lights in the room dimmed to a red color. All four girls turned around to look at a photo of a smiling Alison. Her face on fire and loud screaming coming from the speakers.

"Wake up, everybody! Because the bitch is back!" then loud rock mused played throughout the room.

Spencer jumped off the stage to find where the music was coming from and to turn off the slideshow. Hanna and Emily walked off stage while Aria was frozen where she had been standing. She had no idea what to do. She looked down at Jason and Mrs. DiLaurentis. Once the music and slideshow were turned off Mrs. DiLaurentis stood up and walked out. Jason looked back at Aria for just a second before following his mother. Aria stayed planted where she was and just looked around the red tinted room.

After the shock wore off Aria went backstage. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily were the only three back there. The other girls had left after the whole fiasco. Aria would have as well if she wasn't a part of it. She saw that the other girls had changed out of their tribute dresses and into something more comfortable. She put on a pair of black distressed jeans, a grey t-shirt with the word 'weird' across the chest, and a pair of black sneakers. Her hair was down, but still styled from the fashion show and heavy makeup.

Spencer walked off to call Mrs. DiLaurentis. The other three girls just stood in a circle not talking at all.

"Did you speak to her?" Aria asked when Spencer came back.

"No, Jason picked up her cell phone, said she was too upset to talk," Spencer said.

"Just when we were in the spotlight, doing something decent," Emily said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"'A' makes the spotlight extra harsh," Hana said. Caleb walked in and Aria nodded toward him. Hanna walked over to him to talk. He had shown up to see her, anyway. She walked back to her friends a few seconds later and Caleb walked outside.

"Maybe we should just send Mrs. DiLaurentis a note or something?" Aria suggested.

"I don't think there is a section for 'I'm sorry you got traumatized' cards," Spencer said.

"Maybe flowers," Emily said. Feedback from a microphone or something startled the girls and they turned in the direction the noise came from.

On the screen that had been playing Alison's tribute slideshow were large words.

MY DRESSES

MY GAME

MY RULES

-A

"Can we get out of here," Emily asked picking her bags up from the floor.

"I'm right behind you," Spencer said, and Hanna followed them.

"I just gotta grab my stuff," Aria said regretting the fact that she hadn't packed it up earlier.

Aria ran backstage and started packing up her hair and makeup supplies. While doing so someone walked up behind her, startling her. Turning around she saw Noel with the tribute disc in his hand.

"Did you want this back?" he asked, "I'd hate to leave something lying around that could get you and your friends in trouble," he said.

"I assumed that was yours," Aria said hoping she sounded confident because she didn't feel it. She felt scared knowing that they were the only two people left in the building. That was until she felt a familiar presence walk up and stand beside her.

"What's that?" Jason asked gesturing to the disc in Noel's hand.

"The unplanned finale," Aria said without looking at him. She could feel him looking at her though.

"Hand it over," Jason said taking a step towards Noel. Noel handed Jason the disc without hesitation and Jason snapped it in half. Jason and Aria watched Noel walk away. Once he was gone Jason turned to Aria, "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes. No. I don't know," Aria said grabbing her bag and walking back out to where all of her garment bags were on one of the tables in the main room.

"That's not a very decisive answer," Jason said.

"Jase, we had nothing to do with that," Aria told him.

"I never said you did," he replied.

"I know, but you know that I made that slideshow and then it ended up like that…" Aria sighed heavily, "I watched that thing a million times to make sure it was perfect and that was defiantly not the ending I made," she told him.

"You don't have to tell me that, Aria. I believe you," Jason told her, "I don't think any of you had anything to do with that. You all looked too shocked and pretty traumatized."

"I have it on my computer. I think I should send the real version to your mom so the one she saw tonight isn't the one she has to remember," Aria said.

"I think she would like that," Jason said.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure your mom doesn't want this back," Aria said referring to the dress she had worn during the failed tribute, "Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

"Why did you come back? Why would you want to live in that big house all by yourself?" Aria asked.

"Wanted to try and put the pieces together," Jason said, "I was looking for something."

"Did you find it?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. But I need to find out how to be happy, and…I'd like to do that here," Jason said. Aria didn't know what to say to that, "Um…can I drop you somewhere?" he asked.

"Yeah," Aria said, "Yeah, I could use a ride home," she told him.

Jason grabbed Aria's garment bags while she grabbed her purse and she followed him out of the venue to his car. What went unnoticed by everyone was the giant letter 'A' arranged by candles on a table in the middle of the room.


CHAPTER SIX: FASHION-Re-Posted